Saturday, July 20, 2013

Day 19

Day nineteen at Arenal Volcano region. At 5,437 feet, the Arenal Volcano looms large and ominous over the pastured green hillsides that surround its base. Although currently in a resting phase, Arenal remained the country’s most active volcano for the past 43 years. Its storied history is charged with eruptions – both major and minor – that have intimately affected the region and the people who live here.

We started the day by visiting the La Fortuna Waterfall located. The La Fortuna waterfall emerges from dense jungle greenery before plummeting some 200 feet (65 m) into an emerald pool below.

We ended the day and had dinner at Eco Termales La Fortuna Hot Springs. The Eco Termales Hot Springs is a sanctuary of pleasure, nature and beauty that has been the life work of the Hidalgo family. The smallest of the Arenal hot springs, Eco Termales is geared toward privacy and relaxation—it does not accept more than 100 visitors at one time.

Thanks to geothermal activity beneath Arenal, the area surrounding the volcano is home to a number of hot springs. There are springs for every budget and style, and many serve up unobstructed views of the volcanohttp://www.arenal.net/tour/eco-thermales-hot-springs

Eco Termales utilizes a biodigester, a biodigester is a digester for organic waste ( including human waste, restaurant waste and cow waste)

In its simplest form, a closed container, airtight and waterproof (called reactor), inside which is placed the organic material to be fermented (human and animal excrement, vegetable waste, are not included acidifying as citrus, etc.) in particular for water dilution through anaerobic fermentation gas is produced methane and fertilizer rich organic nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium, and moreover, reduce the potential for contamination of excrement. http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/BiodigestorThe use the methane for cooking, the fertilizer for plants and during the water cleaning process the plants used to filter the water are feed to the cows. This was a very impressive process that represents a terrific business model.